Staying Committed to Your Workout – There’s An App for That

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to get back in the gym and be in the best shape of my life this year. I am not one of those people who just LOVES going to the gym. I can think of fifty million things that I’d rather do than go to the gym and workout. Even though I pay for my gym membership every month, until this month I hadn’t been to the gym since June 2015. If I’m lazy enough to waste my money then that says a lot.

I downloaded an app a while ago that is supposed to help you train for a 5K. It’s called Couch Potato to 5K. I first heard of Couch Potato to 5K in a Buzzfeed article about people who had lost over fifty pounds. The guy in this article used this app and he lost 74 pounds in a year! This month, I decided to actually use the app and… I LOVE IT. Going to the gym is still somewhat of a chore but it’s been more enjoyable with this app. I’m the type of person who likes to make lists and check things off, and this app allows me to do that in a sense. First of all, the workouts are only like thirty minutes long. So yes, you have time to do it. And because of the way the workouts are structured (it uses interval training), it doesn’t even feel that long. Secondly, the app only expects you to do three workouts per week. I try to do Monday, Wednesday, Friday but that Friday workout sometimes doesn’t make the cut (Don’t judge me; I’m a work in progress!). Also, you don’t need a treadmill or any type of machine to use the app. The whole workout consists of running and walking, so all you need is your legs. I prefer to go to the gym because I pay for a membership AND it’s way too cold to be running outside right now. But if it were a little warmer and I didn’t have access to a gym, I’d definitely consider just doing the workouts outside.

Some other cool things about the app are that it talks to you. I know it sounds weird, but the app will literally tell you when to run and when to walk. This is more important than you would think because otherwise you would have to look at the app to see when how much time you have left to run and walk. This feature gives you the ability to put your phone in your pocket or keep it in your armband and still know when to walk and when to run. The other cool feature is that the app does not disturb the music player on your phone. I absolutely HATE when I can’t play my music in the background while an app is running on my phone. And honestly, if Couch Potato to 5K had been one of those apps that did not allow this, I probably would’ve deleted it. Luckily, I can move between the app and my music player with ease if I need to. However, the app is already connected to your Apple Music so I can also choose a playlist or song without ever leaving the app. The creators really took into account that people NEED their music when they’re exercising. I also like the fact that you can share your workout with others via social media. I’ve never really used this feature because I don’t like to have too many things linked to my social media, but it pops up after you finish your workout and I usually just take a screenshot and send it to my fiancé. I feel like giving you the opportunity to share what you’ve accomplished is really cool and also holds you accountable in a way.

I am the type of person who will make excuses (sometimes dumb ones) when it comes to avoiding workouts. But this particular app really hits the spot and taps into my own personal character traits to keep me motivated.